When The Manipulation Ends
by rhymeswithmonth
Summary: Thinking back, she couldn't remember what she had been thinking when she had decided to pull a Sakura and run off looking for Sasuke by herself. In hindsight, it had been a very dumb move. She deserved to be in this situation, really. Sorta AU
1. Prologue

Thinking back, Ino couldn't remember exactly what had been going through her head when she had decided to pull a Sakura and run off looking for Sasuke by herself. In hindsight, it had been a very dumb move. Abandoning her teammates, disobeying her commanding officer, then heading out alone into hostile territory. She deserved to be in this situation, really.

Lunging out from the thick bramble patch that had been serving as her temporary base, Ino threw the smoke bomb to the ground, and without checking to see if it had the desired effect, she sprinted away as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

Smoke bombs, pathetic. She hated having to turn to such an elementary technique, but she was all out of fancy tricks. He had left her with no other choice, and it was humiliating. What had the past decade of training been for then if she was still this helpless against a single enemy? It was obvious now, that she would never be able to get Sasuke back, she simply wasn't good enough, and never would be.

Ino skidded to a stop as the ground in front of her exploded. In a heartbeat she switched direction and was headed at top speed back the way she came. But after only a few metres, another snake hurled towards her, this time, she was unable to fully dodge the attack. The scaly creature clipped her shoulder and sent her hurtling to the ground.

On impact, Ino felt her tooth go through her lip. On any other occasion, this would have warranted a pretty big freak-out, but there was no time for that now. Bracing her hands on the ground, she pushed off, only to come crashing back. The snake had wrapped around her ankle, and was steadily creeping higher. Shrieking, Ino pulled a kunai from her belt, intending to hack off the serpent's head. But suddenly, a gloved hand appeared around her wrist.

"Don't be hasty, now" His soft voice came from behind her, much to close for comfort. Ino panicked, and threw her free fist towards the sound. He caught it easily, of course, but she had expected that.

Leaping straight up, she twisted into a mid-air roll, forcing him to break the grip on both her arms. Ino stretched her arms upward, fingers desperately grasping as she flew towards the tree canopy. If she could only catch hold of a branch, she could try to escape through the treetops.

No such luck. Below her, he swept his arm forward, sleeve billowing as another snake sprang forth and wrapped her body tightly in its coils.

Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. But the snake was holding her so tightly that her lungs could only expand halfway. She gasped shortly, the feeling of suffocation increasing her panic.

"Loosen up darling, we don't want to hurt her" He said, gliding forward. "let's see what we've caught!"

The snake obeyed its master, and Ino breathed easier. She arranged her face into what she hoped was a mocking sneer as his eyes met hers. He stood a few inches taller than her, but with the snake holding her a foot off the group, he had to tilt his head back slightly to look into her face, causing his silver bangs to fall away from his eyes.

He took a moment to study her, and recognition flashed across his face. Damn, she had been hoping that he wouldn't remember her from before. A wide grin stretched across his face, causing the scales around his eyes to crinkle and catch the sunlight filtering through the trees, "well, well, well, the little konoichi from the chunin exams, what a pleasant surprise."

breakbreakbreak breakbreakbreak breakbreakbreak breakbreakbreak breakbreakbreak

I know I'm probably going to get a lot of strange looks for putting these two together, but I was just re-watching the chounin exam arc, and over night I fell in love with the pairing.

Please let me know what you think, even if you think I'm crazy. The story will get better, I promise, and the chapters longer.

Oh and, I disclaim. Characters and world belong to the creators of NARUTO


	2. Chapter 1

The most infuriating thing was how pleasant he managed to be. Even though she was his prisoner, the enemy, he treated her to every courtesy that he took for himself. She ate the same food he did, was allowed to drink her fill from his canteen, he shared his medical balm with her every morning.

At first she had refused. She lagged behind, complaining about every little thing, thinking to annoy him enough that he simply killed her. She in no way wished to die, but at this point, in the hands of one of their worst enemies, heading towards who knows what, dying now, before any of Konoha's secrets were tortured from her would be the honorable path.

But his level of patience was astounding, and when she eventually passed out from thirst and exhaustion, he sat beside her, in the middle of the forest trail they had been walking on. When she came to, he was cupping her head in his hands, dribbling water into her slack mouth, and her previously bloody blisters were healed. He smiled at her and pulled her to her feet. "Come on now, just a couple more kilometres and we can stop for the night."

When he handed her the steaming bowl of traveling-gruel, she took it without comment, polishing it off, and even accepting seconds. When he extinguished the fire, she curled up in the blanket he offered. Since then, she had followed him and tried not to question his ways. But it was just too hard to believe. He was a traitor, a cold-blooded murdered, Orochimaru's henchman. Hell, he wasn't even human anymore. And yet he wasn't acting like it, she would even venture to say that he was being good to her.

That confusion was what prompted the first of her many escape attempts. It was a few days after she had collapsed, about a week and a half since her capture.

Her strategy was simple, one that she had used many times against her father, teammates and Asuma-sensei alike when she didn't want to complete a training exercise, and it had worked without fail every time.

That morning she grabbed a handful of bright red wild berries from a bush they walked past. She timed it carefully so that she was sure he hadn't seen. When they stopped to refill the canteen a few hours later, she darted behind a tree and hurriedly pulled down her shorts, smearing the berries along the inside of her thighs.

Staggering back into view Ino emitted a loud moan. "Kabuto" she wined, purposely pitching her voice to an obnoxiously high level. "I just got my period, and I have the most horrible cramps. I need to stop NOW" To enhance the effect, Ino held up her red-stained hand, shoving it boldly into his face.

All of the males in her life had all had different, and incredibly amusing reactions to this action, between standing frozen in shock (Asuma) running as fast as they could in the opposite direction (Choji) and incoherent babble and a rushed dismissal (her father). Her favourite had been Shikimaru, who turned bright red and backed away in such a rush that he tripped and fell on his ass. Ino hadn't been able to resist pursuing him, watching him loose his ever-present cool and shriek like a girl while he scuttled backward like a crab.

But what she had forgotten was the Kabuto was a highly trained medical ninja with the desire, and ability to dismantle human bodies, and reconstruct them, all while they were still technically 'alive'. His hobby and lifelong ambition was the study of body parts, so he was in no way squeamish.

He stared calmly at the hand inches from his nose, presumably covered in her menstrual blood. Ino quickly snatched her hand back, in case he noticed the distinct fruity smell. He moved towards her bending at the waist to look between her legs. "That's a lot of blood" he commented lightly "are you all right?" Flushing brilliantly, Ino squeaked and flailed her arms at him.

"Get away from me you perv!" she yelled, momentarily forgetting whom she was addressing. Regaining her composure, she initiated the next part of her plan "I just need to stop for a bit" she ordered, "To get cleaned up. Then I'll feel better."

He shrugged in surrender and plunked down his pack, taking a seat on a boulder by the riverbank, and stared at her expectantly.

Ino started back in disbelief, damnit did he expect her to wash with him watching? But would he know something was up if she asked him to leave? "Are you serious!" she exclaimed, "Leave me alone! Just…go over there, behind that hill. I won't take more than half an hour!"

Something changed in his eyes then, the gold flashed behind his glasses and there was none of the misplaced humanity left. As he straightened up to his full height, she cringed. For the first time since their short battle, she feared that he would kill her. He glided forward, and though every muscle in her body screamed at her to flee, his eyes pined her down, the golden eyes of a snake coming down on its helpless prey.

He stopped, his booted feet toe-to-toe with her sandals, and gazed coolly down at her. Ino tore her eyes away from his face, unable to see any more, choosing instead to study the zipper of his cloak, trying not to crumble under the weight of his eyes. After what seemed like an eternity he spoke "You have ten minutes" he hissed, breath tickling the top of her head. And then he was gone, and Ino was free to collapse to the ground shaking.

But a moment was all the time she allowed herself. Leaping to her feet she waded into the river, splashing louder than necessary in case he could still hear her. Focusing her chakra to the soles of her feet, she stepped onto the surface of the water. It was a basic evasive strategy, but still the best in the books. Taking a deep breath, she began running downriver. The ten minutes he had allotted her wouldn't get her as far as she had hoped, but at top speed she could still put a few kilometres between them before he discovered her absence.

The course Kabuto had plotted curved away from the river at the point where they had stopped, that's why she chose that spot to make her move. She would be running north, when his planned destination, wherever that was, was towards the south. All she could do was run like hell and hope that she stumbled on a sympathetic family willing to hide her until she could get word to Konoha.

She jumped the river at a random point, and took to the trees. She wanted to leave as few signs of her passing as possible. She knew that at the speed she was traveling, leaving nothing was impossible, but hopefully by the time Kabuto found her trail, she'd be long gone.

After approximately forty minutes, the forest began to thin out, and Ino was forced to the ground. She stood at the edge of a vast rocky plain that stretched on as far as the eye could see. The forest behind her was tiny in comparison, a minuscule green blemish on the face of this black wasteland.

Dismay filled her. She hadn't expected this. Sure, she didn't know where they were, but she knew the maps of this part of the world fairly well, and nowhere had anything like this been mentioned. They must have traveled much further than she had estimated.

Leaning against the nearest rock formation, Ino felt her motivation slip away. The hours of walking, the long run, and days without proper nutrition came rushing back with new force. Now she was stuck here, lost and alone with no supplies. Tears welled in her eyes and she wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly much more conscious of the wind howling around her.

She was so wrapped up in her misery that it took her several seconds to notice him sitting behind her. She looked up from where she gad buried her face in her arms to look at the setting sun. In just moments she would most likely be dead. Call her a coward, but she didn't want to see him coming at her. The last thing she wanted to see was the warm pinks and oranges.

But the seconds dragged into minutes and finally she couldn't stand the tension any longer. Peeking nervously out of the corner of her eye, she scrutinized his expression. Kabuto sat in the most relaxed position she had seen him in yet. His body language practically screamed non-aggression. His hood was down, allowing the breeze to tease the silver strands of hair about his face. The sun shone off his glasses, hiding his eyes and throwing the side of his face into shadow. Seeing him here, one could almost believe him normal.

Once the last rays of daylight sunk below the craggy horizon, Kabuto slowly stood. He turned and addressed her in his usual, casual way "come on, we'll have to travel for a bit in the dark to make up for lost time."

Ino didn't think she would ever get used to his inconsistent moods. "You aren't mad?" She asked quietly "You're not going to punish me?"

He tilted his head to the side "Why?" He questioned, "Do you want me to punish you?"

That sent a shiver down her spine. But still, all his voice held was amused curiosity. "But I ran away" she mumbled into her knees.

He laughed "And you think I didn't know you would? You're a ninja, if you hadn't made at least one attempt at escape, I'd be worried!" with that, he turned sharply on his heel and strode back towards the shadowy forest. Ino watched as his figure became smaller and smaller. Not once did he look back to check if she was following.

Did this mean she had a choice? He certainly gave the impression that he didn't care either way. She was free, just like that. But as she stared out over the barren landscape, she once again began to doubt the intelligence of her brilliant plan. But she couldn't go back with Kabuto, no way, he was the enemy. And yet, she would most likely die out there, all alone. Not an appealing end.

Now that she thought about it, Kabuto was the enemy, he had successfully infiltrated Konoha's system, set a coup in motion, and he had been working with Orochimaru for years before that. He had spent time with Sasuke, and had strong ties to Akatsuki. His mind was a variable gold mine of secrets, both Konoha's and his own. If she could even extract a miniscule amount of Intel and get back to the village with it, it would provide them with an edge over their enemies. And she was in the prime position to acquire that edge.

With a new sense of determination, Ino leapt to her feet, stumbling slightly in her haste to catch up with the distant form, nearly at the edge of the trees now. As she drew level, he turned and grinned at her. Motioning with a sweep of his arm, he ushered her ahead of him. Ino took the lead with a spring in her step. Since he had technically let her go, she was no longer his prisoner right? She was here of her own free will. He had no sway over her.

Behind her, face hidden deep in the hood of his cloak, Kabuto allowed the dark smirk he had been suppressing take over his features. Oh yes, she had fallen for it; it had been almost too easy. Breathing in deeply, he relished the warm night air against his face. It felt good, the still spreading scales on his face constantly itched. It would have been enough to drive a weaker person crazy. He didn't mind so much thought. It was kind of like having Orochimaru with him still, persistent, annoying, taking up half his attention at all times.

Composing his features back into a safer expression, Kabuto followed his prisoner down the moonlit path.


	3. Chapter 2

A couple days later they stopped in a town to restock on supplies.

The town was not allied with any of Konoha's enemies, but it was too small to warrant its own shinobi, so Ino wouldn't be able to get any help. But it was big enough to have a stable trading partnership with several hidden villages, so perhaps she would encounter a visiting ninja.

Walking through the bustling marketplace, Kabuto kept his hood pulled up as far as it could in order to not draw attention to his unique appearance. But still, his dark cloak still drew weary looks. He finished shopping as quickly as possible. He didn't want a paranoid civilian calling the local militia in.

Ino was delighted when Kabuto informed her that they would be spending the night at an inn. That meant a proper meal and a bed, luxuries she had not had for months fighting on the frontlines.

Tilting her head back under the hot stream of water, Ino silently thanked whoever it was who had invented showers, and conditioner. Raking her fingers through the tangled knots, she watched the blonde strands swirl around her feet and down the drain. Hair as long as hers really was inconvenient on missions, maybe she should cut it short again.

Reluctantly stepping out of the shower, for fear Kabuto would walk in to see what was taking her so long, she wrapped one of the deliciously fluffy towels around her head, and the other around her body. Cooing with delight, Ino turned to face the generous array of cosmetics the room had to offer.

She loved being a ninja, she really did, but the career choice made it hard to be a girl. And deep inside, while, maybe not that deep, Ino was a bit of a girly-girl. She enjoyed working in her family's flower shop, and made many of the arrangements herself. She always tried to stay fashionable and loved shopping for the latest trends. But being a shinobi left no time for things like clothes and makeup, so she was going to fully grab this opportunity.

Scented body lotion, face moisturizer, hand cream. And they even had a nail file. Ino carried a brush with her on the road, but the hotel brush was so much nicer. They even had a tiny makeup kit with just the essentials, foundation, blush, eyeliner and moisturizing lipgloss. Maybe Kabuto really had killed her and she was in heaven.

But the knock that interrupted fifteen minutes later informing her that Kabuto would go to dinner without her if she took any longer eliminated that theory. Dabbing on the last of the lipgloss, Ino brushed her hair over her shoulder, deciding to leave it down for once, and hurriedly got dressed. It was too bad that she was stuck wearing her dirty traveling clothes, but at least she looked good.

Kabuto was waiting at the door, looking the same as always. "Aren't you going to take a bath?" She asked.

He rolled his eyes. "No time after yours" he replied. "Dinner is served at seven and I want to get there before it gets too busy." He reached to open the door, but hesitated, staring at her strangely.

Ino flushed slightly as his eyes skimmed down her body, then back to fix on her face. "I-is something wrong" she asked, feeling suddenly self-conscious under his scrutiny. Did he disapprove of all her self-pampering?

"No, nothing." He said finally "you look nice is all." With that he twisted the knob and stepped out into the hall.

Ino followed him out feeling strangely giddy. A complement from him of all people shouldn't make her happy. But she was so unused to being told that she looked pretty, as she was constantly beat up, dirty and surrounded by other ninja that she couldn't help feeling a bit pleased.

As Kabuto had hopes, the dining room wasn't yet crowded when they arrived. He lead the way to the table in the dimmest, emptiest corner of the room. Ino was a bit disappointed. There was a group of people around her age towards the front who looked like they were having a good time. Maybe if she promised to come back Kabuto would let her go off alone after dinner…

She mentally smacked herself. This wasn't some kind of vacation, she was on a mission! She couldn't keep forgetting so easily! Sobered, Ino turned to her companion. She needed to get as much information out of him as possible. She would worry how to get word to the others later.

Kabuto had the menu open on the table in front of him, but didn't appear to be reading it. His golden eyes scanned the room behind his glinting glasses. His face was an emotionless mask. Suddenly starting a conversation seemed a lot less likely to happen.

Oh well, no harm in trying. "So, erm, Kabuto." She started awkwardly. What the hell was she supposed to talk about? She was a medic, not trained in interrogation, or any of the mind games needed in this situation. That was it! They had common ground; they were both trained medical ninja, maybe that would give them something to talk about. "SO" she said again, voice too loud due to nerves. "Where did you learn to, you know, resurrect the dead and stuff?"

He stared across at her with a raised eyebrow. Okay, that sounded a bit weird. But it was on the right track to finding out stuff that would be useful. She leaned forward with a bright grin on her face.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, running his finger absent-mindedly through the condensation on his water glass. "From Lord Orochimaru" he said. "I thought you would have known that."

Darn it of course she had, but he could have at least elaborated for her, to help the conversation along. He had seemed so chatty earlier, but didn't seem at all interested anymore. Luckily the waiter chose that moment to arrive and take their orders.

The rest of the dinner passed just as unproductively. Kabuto warmed up a bit to her prompting, but that made it worse because it seemed he was an expert at twisting to conversation topics to his desire. Finally Ino just gave up and absorbed herself with enjoying her meal.

She had ordered a delicious bowl of sweet pasta with fire-roasted cherry tomatoes. After what had seemed like an eternity of bland traveling rations, it was heaven. Looking over at Kabuto, she frowned. The guy had ordered a simple rice stir-fry and had eaten it plain. It was as if he was just eating to fill his belly, which actually wasn't that farfetched an idea.

Kabuto paid for the food, leaving the waiter a rather generous tip. He had quite a bit of money, Ino had noticed, his purse jingled fully as he put it away. That night be useful to her…

Back in the room, Kabuto took a quick shower. With nothing to do, Ino sat on one of the two twin beds and desperately tried to think of a plan. She really should take advantage of being in a populated area; it would be easier to do something when it wasn't just the two of them.

Kabuto came out of the bathroom while she was deep in thought and stretched out on the other bed. It was the first time Ino had seen his without his engulfing cloak on. He appeared considerably smaller and more vulnerable without it. He wore a loose, black long-sleeved shirt that exposed his collarbone. The glossy silver scales that decorated his face continued down the sides of his neck and fanned out over the top of his chest. She wondered distractedly if his whole body was covered in them.

But seeing his stretched out on his back finally lit the spark of an idea in her mind. And for the half hour until Kabuto flicked the light out, she developed her plan.

She had never tried the mind possession jutsu on a sleeping person, so she had no idea if it would work. Waiting until Kabuto's breathing evened out, Ino sat up in bed and mentally went over her plan.

She would try to transfer herself into Kabuto without waking him. She would then leave in his body and run as fast as she could towards Konoha. It would be tricky, as he was strong and might be able to break her hold on him. But that's why she was doing it while he was asleep. His mind would be more relaxed and open in the dream state, and he wouldn't even wake up while she traveled. Or that was her theory, at least.

The best-case result would be that she made it all the way to the village in his body. There she would allow herself to be captured, explain the situation and then go back to her own body. Kabuto would be the prisoner of the village and they could question him all they liked. It would be perfect.

But there was a good chance that he would wake up partway there and force her out. That wouldn't be so horrible, she would have managed to separate herself from him, and in a crowded town like this one, it would be hard for him to find her trail, and she could flee. That would suck because she had no usable info from him yet, but at least she could get away.

She didn't need to worry about her own body either. She would take Kabuto's money and pay the hotel owner to keep the room and look after her body. There was enough to guarentee the woman's loyalty, and she would also promise more money once she returned.

Breathing deeply, Ino took the stance and focused her mind. She felt the familiar tugging and feeling of weightlessness flooded her before she was sucked back down into Kabuto's body.

Every person's mind was different, and had a different feeling when she possessed it, but this was a whole other thing all together. At first she just thought it was because this was her first time in a sleeping body, but it wasn't that. It was hard to describe, but it was almost as if Kabuto's mind was…sick somehow.

It was cold, but an unnatural kind of cold, and it felt kind of…cramped? How could a mind feel cramped? She looked around blindly into the dark. Since Kabuto's eyes were closed, she couldn't see anything either, but the darkness wasn't black. It pulsated in a way, moving and changing colour, and yet, she couldn't see it. It was all very confounding.

She might as well start trying to possess his physical self as well. But as she began to settle herself in, a presence flickered at the edge of her consciousness. Scared that Kabuto was waking, she turned wildly scanning the gloom.

But it was worse than that. Ino's heart stilled in her chest at the sight that greeted her.

She had only even seen Orochimaru a few times, but what she had seen terrified her. Even from a distance she had felt the absolute evil that the man had extruded in life. And the stories of his malicious deeds, and seen the results first hand in the faces of her friends. But she had never imagined she would come face to face with the man, mainly because he was supposed to be dead!

But there he stood, and it was unmistakably him. The pallid skin and lank, ink black locks. And he had the exact same snake eyes that Kabuto did. As she stared at him in horror, his face split into a wide grin.

"It looks like we have a visitor," he crooned, appearing to address the small, lumpy bundle he held in his arms. "What fun! We've been so lonely these days"

He directed his attention at Ino now. "Very impressive my dear. I never would have guessed that you were so talented." He tenderly stroked the gray thing in his arms. "But really, it's not very nice of you to attack poor Kabuto when he's in no shape to defend himself." The gray wrapping fell away from the top of the bundle to expose….

…The head of a small child. Ino blanched. What was this demon of a man doing with a toddler? Orochimaru ran a lanky hand through the little boys silver hair.

She gasped in recognition. The tiny child had soft gray hair falling around his face. Perched on his nose was a pair of familiar round glasses that looked far too large on suck a tiny face. His delicate fingers were curled and rested between his chest and that of the man carrying him. He was dressed in a plain beige shirt and the faded blanket drooped around his waist. She was looking at a child version of Kabuto.

Orochimaru smirked and put a finger of his free hand to his lips. Cradling Kabuto's tiny body, he rocked him gently back and forth. "It would be best if you leave." He murmured not looking at her. "Wouldn't want to have to wake the baby…"

Ino backed away, unsure what to make of the situation. What was going on here? Why was Orochimaru in Kabuto's mind, and why the heck was Kabuto looking so young? It was too risky, she decided. Who knows what would happen if she tried to continue her plan now. Taking one last look at the pair in front of her, Ino retreated back into her own body.

Coming to slumped over in the dark hotel room, Ino breathed heavily for several minutes to calm herself down. Staring across at Kabuto's slumbering form she tried to make sense of what had just happened. She knew Kabuto was different, that he had changed since his time in the leaf village, but to find Orochimaru hiding out in his mind! She just didn't get it. No wonder it had felt so crowded in there.

Shivering, Ino wrapped the blanket around herself and rolled to face the wall. That had been beyond creepy, it was downright disturbing. To have someone else living in your mind, that was just unnatural. Orochimaru was dead, how did a piece of his soul live on?

She pressed herself into the mattress, wishing she could just disappear. She would not sleep easily this night.

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Kabuto woke to sun in his eyes. It was getting harder and harder to pull himself from the dreamworld these days. Maybe sometime in the future, he just wouldn't wake up. Standing up and stretching, he looked over at Ino's bed.

She was curled up in a tight little ball with all the blankets piled on top of her, despite the mild temperature. He stepped closer and peered at her face. Her eyes were scrunched closed and her makeup from last night had smeared into the pillow. Gently brushing his fingers against her forehead, he found it covered in a thin sheen of sweat. At his touch, her whole body trembled.

Hmm, must've had a rough night. It looked like she had had a nightmare or two. Too bad, he had slept unusually well, with none of the usual haunting dreams. He had felt calm even, the best nights rest he could remember having since before his parents were killed. And that was a long, long time ago.

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Is that plot development? I dunno, it could be. And I am trying to throw tiny splashes of romance in there, but it's hard with the positions of these tow characters.

I'd like to share some art I've done for this story, a few pieces spoil a bit of the ending XP

.com/art/Hanashika-s-Pairing-Meme-193117762

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I made Ino order Pasta with tomatoes because apparently cherry tomatoes are her favourite food

I don't own characters.


	4. Chapter 3

Kabuto was long past the point when he actually needed to wear his glasses. Come on, what kind of genius medical expert would he be if he couldn't even heal his own nearsightedness?

The reason he continued to wear his old lenses was simple. People, for some reason, were quicker to trust a man wearing glasses.

It was baffling really, how a simple accessory could make him more approachable to the average citizen. But he didn't need to understand it to take advantage of it, so he kept the eyewear.

Unfortunately, nowadays even that didn't work. People could no longer fool themselves that bad eyesight equaled good person, because of his altered appearance. Glimmering scales and purple-rimmed snake eyes are hard to get past. But as they say, old habits are hard to break.

Ino couldn't help but cling to the childlike belief that when his glasses were on, everything would be okay. This might have stemmed from the fact that she was now terrified of Kabuto when he slept. Ever since the failed attempt to gain control of his body, she had been plagued with nightmares. She kept imagining that Orochimaru would take over Kabuto and murder her in her sleep.

And since Kabuto didn't sleep in his glasses, she hated it when he didn't have them on. She knew it was a silly little association, but she couldn't help it.

When he wore his glasses she could see a little of the man he had been back in Konoha, before everything had blown to pieces. She hadn't known him well, only having exchanged a few unimportant words during the chunin exams. But she still remembered the person he had been, or rather, the act he had put on.

She had thought he was cute, in a gentle, nerdy kind of way (again, that had been the glasses) The upperclassman taking pity on the newbies, she had to admit that it had caught her attention. She had briefly attempted to flirt with him, with the intention of making Sasuke jealous.

But he had paid her no attention, of course. No one ever cared about the other genin when the brilliant team seven was around. Once again Ino found herself fading into the background as Sakura and her teammates took centre stage. The special team, the golden trio. She hadn't been able to understand how Sakura continued this lucky streak.

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Traveling as far south as they were, they eventually encountered the sweltering heat that the area was famous for. Ino relished it, as much as she could anyway. She had to keep reminding herself that she was there against her will (but not really, it only looked like she was, this was a _mission_)

Even so, it wouldn't hurt if she just worked on her tan a bit. It's not like it would change the outcome of the mission. So she unzipped her flak jacket and pulled her black long-sleeved shirt, leaving only her netted undershirt. Sighing happily, Ino rolled her shoulders back and tilted her head skywards. She'd always loved coming down to the southern countries. Missions to Suna had been her favourites, and she had constantly wheedled Asuma to get them.

The sun climbed steadily higher in the sky as they walked, and Ino, who had again claimed the lead in their party of two, glanced over her shoulder at Kabuto trudging behind her. For the past hour or so, she had noticed that he seemed to be getting uncomfortable. He distractedly pulled as the high collar of his heavy cloak. Ino made a sympathetic face as she turned away. She couldn't imagine walking in this weather in the dark bulky garment.

When they stopped for a quick midday meal a couple hours later, Ino casually suggested that he take the thing off. "Why torture yourself like this?" she sassed.

Sending her an annoyed look, he rolled up his baggy sleeves. "I'm fine" he said "thanks for your concern". Ino raised an eyebrow skeptically. Rolling up the sleeves did nothing for him, as he had on black gloves that extended up his arm as far as was visible.

"Whatever you say" she flopped back in the soft grass, kicking her sandals off and pulling the ends of her pant legs up as far as she could. She let out an exaggeratedly loud sound of contentment, cracking one eye open to look for his reaction.

He was looking at her, but no longer seemed irritated. His expression was unreadable. Slowly he stood. Turning his back on her, he reached down and yanked the long robe over his head. Ino's whole body stiffened as the black fabric settled around his feet.

Pointedly ignoring her, Kabuto stepped away from the pooled material and sat down cross-legged.

He wore a black T-shirt that vaguely resembled the outfit he had worn in Konoha. Underneath was a tight long-sleeved shirt that flowed into gloves, covering up all skin that might have shown.

His pants were plain black as well. Tucked into dark boots, they too revealed nothing. Or at least they wouldn't have normally.

Ino was transfixed by the gold eyes staring back at her. But they weren't Kabuto's eyes. Or at least, she didn't think they were. This pair of snake eyes truly was set into the face of a snake. It was a large specimen; thick and silver, gleaming in the sun it lifted its head slightly off the ground and flicked its pink tongue out to taste that air.

It looked exactly the same as the snakes that he had used against her. The ones that had held her captive, wrapped in their shimmering bodies, feeling their constricting strength. She remembered thinking that they had seemed connected to him by some sort of mental bond, listening to commands that he needn't have said aloud. This one was connected, physically joined to his body. It appeared to be anchored to the base of his spine like a tail. A living, breathing tail.

Ino's eyes slid up Kabuto's tense body to his face. He was staring fixedly into the forest in front of him. His jaw was clenched, his glaring eyes tight and guarded. There was no pretense of civility here. He was giving her what she had wanted, and telling her silently _why _she had been mistaken in wanting it.

It took all of her strength to rip her eyes away from him. As a trained medical, even just in field first-aid, this was fascinating. Unnatural though it may be, it was real. He had a freaking living SNAKE attached to his body. And for some reason, it didn't quite look unnatural on him. Paired with his own serpentine features, the snake seemed to fit right into his overall look.

No wonder he had been reluctant to shed his outer layer in front of her. Despite his attitude of confidence, he seemed to be _ashamed _of this anomaly. His whole posture told her so. He was trying to be nonchalant, but his acting skills, usually so solid, seemed to be failing him for the first time since they'd met. It was so out of character that Ino couldn't help but feel the creepings of guilt at having pushed him to reveal this. She tried to beat back the notion, but couldn't keep from coiling up in her throat, and compelling her to attempt to make him feel more comfortable.

Crossing her arms behind her head she grinned in his direction. "There!" she called cheerfully, "Isn't that loads better?"

His head jerked in her direction, a question in his expression. Ino kept the wide smile in place and stretched her legs out in as relaxed a position she could manage. He seemed about to say something but stopped himself, looking back at the trees again he let out a condescending snort. Ino felt immediately self-satisfied as she watched his rigid pose relax as he leaned back on his palms.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, he seemed to remember himself. "What're you doing lazing around" he said gruffly, getting to his feet. He stooped to pick up his discarded cloak. "We need to get to the next valley by sundown, so get moving."

He didn't put the cloak back on.

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Sitting up in her sleeping bag Ino tilted her head to the side and listened to Kabuto's soft breathing. With the warmer climate they hadn't been stopping in towns as often, instead spending every night sleeping in the forest.

Judging by the rhythm of her companions breathing, it was safe for Ino to assume that he was asleep. She took a moment to gather her resolve. For the past few nights she had been avoiding this, but she felt that it was something that she needed to do. She needed to take another look at Kabuto's mind.

Slowly reaching her arms in front of her, Ino connected her fingertips and scrunched her eyes closed. The familiar disembodied sensation flashed over as she slid smoothly into Kabuto's slumbering mind.

The alien feeling of his unconscious was easier to greet when she was prepared. This time she didn't waste time trying to make sense of her surroundings, instead she dropped into a crouch and looked around for signs of life.

There, in the distance she saw a spot of colour. Heading cautiously towards it, Ino was on high alert. This was no escape attempt, this time she intended top try and figure out what exactly she had seen last time she was here.

Close now to the form, she could make sense of what she was looking at. It was Kabuto, as child-like as she remembered, and still asleep. There was no sign of Orochimaru, yet.

Kneeling in front of the curled up child, Ino debated waking him up. She didn't know what would happen if she did, but it was the only thing she could think of doing right now. Mind made up, she reached out a hand to touch the slumbering boy.

The next thing she knew she was skidding across the ground, barley managing to stay on her feet. She hadn't even heard him coming towards her, it was only her instincts that had saved her from his lighting-fast strike.

Orochimaru stood between her and Kabuto. His whole being radiated cold fury. "I told you not to" he hissed, voice dangerously soft. "You shouldn't have come back."

Ino fought to keep from trembling. There was nothing to be afraid of, she told herself. This man wasn't real; he was but a specter, somehow haunting Kabuto's soul. She could fight him, she could win. Naruto had faced this guy and he was an idiot. Naruto and Sasuke and the Third and Lady Tsunade and Master Jiraiya had all taken him on and lived. She could do this, she could face him. She needed to. An idea had planted itself in her brain that if she could kill him, or at least get him out of Kabuto that something would change, that a problem of some sort would be solved.

Sliding into position, Ino didn't wait for him to make the first move. She took off sprinting. She ran as fast as she could, straining, pushing herself to move faster than she ever had. Her heart pounded violently, she was terrified. Planting a foot Ino faked at the last second, and threw her hand forward with all the momentum of her dash, surly this had to connect!

Her palm met flesh with a resounding 'thwack' bit was not met with any give. Orochimaru had brought her strike to a dead stop with hardly any effort at all.

Oh well, she hadn't expected it to be easy, he was a legendary Sannin after all, this fight wouldn't end that quickly. Barley pausing to think Ino brought her leg up in a roundhouse kick aimed straight at his face.

Blocked again. No matter, he hadn't seen anything yet. Ducking low she went to hook his legs in a takedown move that was perfect for taking out larger opponents. He brought up him knee and clocked her soundly in the jaw, knocking her backwards a couple steps. Regaining her stance Ino flew forward in a combination punch-head butt.

Nothing was working, but Ino refused to be dissuaded. Everybody had a weakness; he was bound to slip up if she just kept going at him. It was too bad that the mind-transfer took up all of the chakra or else she would be able to use jutsu as well.

Orochimaru's patience seemed to snap, in the blink of an eye Ino found her self winded and flat on her back, the sannin's sandaled foot poised on her throat. His slitted eyes bored into hers. "I tell you again" he snarled, "Don't interfere." He stepped his full weight onto her windpipe.

Ino opened her eyes in her own body, gasping for breath, the sensation of her throat collapsing, of blood flooding her mouth, choking her, of life flitting through her fingers still tearing through her. It was impossible for her to be killed while in someone else's mind, but she could certainly still feel the sensation of dying. Her whole body shuddering, she couldn't stop the racking sobs from escaping her lungs.

Too late she remembered to muffle her voice with her pillow. Kabuto stirred and sat up, blinking at her blearily. She flinched away from his gaze, laying down and trying to hide how shaken she was. But her taste of death was too fresh in her mind, and she couldn't stop the violent shaking. She heard to rustle of Kabuto's sleeping bag as he moved toward her.

Ino hugged to pillow in a death grip. She did not, did _not_ want to have to deal with this right now. She didn't want to have to look at his eyes, so identical to that man who had just _killed _her. She did not want to have to fall into her act that that had not just happened, she just couldn't handle that right now. The thought did nothing for her collapsed demeanor, and the sobs only grew louder.

She sensed his presence behind her falter. He obviously felt as awkward as she did. "Uh" he uttered hesitantly "Do you…Do you need anything?" he asked. She managed to choke out a negative response. All she needed was for him to leave her to calm herself down in peace. Kabuto didn't push the matter, and gratefully returned to his sleeping bag. But he didn't fall back to sleep, she could tell by the irregular quality of his breathing.

Neither of them slept again that night.

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I realize that in canon, Kabuto's body under his cloak is fully a snake, no legs to be had. But for the purpose of this story, it's back to him having legs, and just the snake tail.


	5. Chapter 4

Kabuto's moral seemed to have taken a miraculous upward swing overnight. The long, boring silences that they usually fell into while traveling were not so silent anymore. Currently, the snake-like man was chatting away about inconsequential things. It didn't seem to matter to him if Ino was listening or not, as he didn't berate her on her lack of participation in the very one-sided conversation like he would have done just days ago.

Ino should have been delighted with this development, as she'd found the lack of talking dreadfully boring. But today, she just wished he'd shut up again. Her head was pounding in the worst head-ach she'd ever experienced, and for a female ninja, that was saying something.

Now he was actually humming! This was getting downright weird. Ino gritted her teeth painfully, trying to distract herself. Since her latest voyage into the depths of her companion's mind, she'd felt violently ill. It seemed that there were repercussions of dying in someone else's subconscious after all. As well as the pounding in her skull, Ino's whole body felt clammy and achy, her vision seemed off and she was very dizzy. It actually felt similar to the one time she'd gotten drunk at one of her old school-friend's parties. She felt like she had the worst hangover ever.

It felt like ages passed before they stopped for lunch, and by that time, Ino was totally worn out. She flopped unceremoniously down, and slouched droopily, zoning out within seconds. Kabuto appeared content to dish out their meals himself, so it was all right to take a small rest…

The next thing she knew, she was being shaken roughly by the shoulders. Focusing sluggishly on the gleaming silver face in front of her, Ino smiled slackly. "Hey…w'tr ya doin' K'buto?" She slurred. He looked funny, he was all frowny and shouty, but his glasses were on, so it was okay. She began to float back into the soft white fluffy oblivion, she was being pulled in by purple rimmed golden eyes.

Suddenly, a sharp blow stung her cheek, bringing back to the surface. Glaring at him, she shouted "What the hell you asshole, you slapped me!" For some reason, this brought a smile to his face, and he sighed in relief. "That's better" he said gently. "I though I'd lost you for a moment there."

Confused, Ino stared at him. As awareness trickled back, she grew increasingly alarmed. She no long sat hunched over on the fallen log that she'd parked herself on earlier. Instead, she was lying limply in Kabuto's arms, apparently having fallen forward out of her seat. Struggling to get up, she experienced a bolt of pain behind her eyes. Moaning, Ino fell back onto Kabuto's lap.

Not so cheerful now, Kabuto slid off his leather glove and put a blissfully cool hand on her forehead. "You were out cold for a good ten minutes." He explained in a professional tone. "Your vital signs were all critically low and at one point you stopped breathing all together. It took all my efforts to get you back awake, and ever then you nearly slipped away again. That's why I slapped you, I was desperate to wake you up."

Slowly, he slid his arm under her knees and stood with her cradled to his chest. Too tired to freak out at the manhandling, Ino only grumbled as he lay her gently down on her sleeping bag. Tucking an extra blanket around her shivering body, he held her head as she drank deeply from their canteen. Even that small effort was draining, and Ino lay back panting to catch her breath.

Kabuto gazed at her huddled form with an unreadable expression on his face. Finally, he let his medical training take over and grabbed her wrist to check her pulse. "Do you have any idea what this could be?" He asked her, counting the sluggish beating of her heart. "Does it feel like the flu, or food poisoning? Have you eaten any unfamiliar plants or anything?"

"No, of course not!" Ino snapped irritably. "I'm not an idiot, I've eaten the same as you this whole time."

"Can you think of anything else then?"

Ino could, of course. She had little doubt that her encounter with Orochimaru inside his sleeping mind was the cause of her sudden illness. But she couldn't very well tell Kabuto that, _"Yeah, I've been invading you privacy on a regular basis to try to gain control of you body and take you to the base of your worst enemies who will most likely torture you before they execute you. But it turns out you have the spirit of your dead, murderous psychopath of a master inside your brain, funny isn't it?" _No, that would not fly well at all.

But something was seriously wrong with her that much was obvious. She'd almost died, if Kabuto was telling the truth, and there was no benefit in lying. Even now, she could feel herself fading, and there was no telling if Kabuto could revive her again. She needed help, and if there was anyone she'd place money on being able to cure her, it was the silver-haired man at her side. She'd just have to divulge as little information about the cause of her state as she could.

"It's mostly my head I think." She started after careful thought. "Maybe something to do with my jutsu, yeah probably that." It would direct him in the right way at least.

Nodding, Kabuto moved behind her, and lifted the top half of her body so that she was once again resting her head on his folded legs. He rubbed his hands together, and preformed a simple hand sign that she recognized as one of the most basic healing jutsus. Resting his hands on the top of her head he asked "Where can you feel the pain the most?"

Ino motioned to the area just above her eyebrows. "At the front here." She said confidently. "But it hurts everywhere." Kabuto nodded and moved his glowing fingers down onto her face, pressing gently against the area she'd directed him to. Blushing, Ino looked to the side. Physical contact was not necessary for this particular jutsu, and he could just as well perform it by hovering his hands over the skin. But she couldn't deny that it felt good, and she soon forgot her discomfort as his slender digits massaged her sore temples. She closed her eyes and settled against him with a soft moan, the gentle ministrations felt absolutely delicious, and she had to reluctantly remind herself not to fall asleep.

"I think I've found your problem." Kabuto's voice cut through the peaceful silence not long later. "But I can't…exactly tell what it is. It looks like some sort of growth, which scared me for a moment, but it doesn't feel like one." Ino opened her eyes to look into his face. His brows were drawn together, forming a crease on the bridge of his nose. "Tumors and other growths are made from tainted cells of the patient's body." He explained. "They are _sick_ cells, or mutated ones, but they still belong to the person. This one…this _thing _on your brain is not like that. It's as if the matter making it doesn't even belong to you." He sighed in frustration and his hands slide down to rest on Ino's shoulders. "I've only even felt something similar once before, and that was…" He trailed off.

"Regardless, this thing nearly killed you." He continued determinedly. "I _will _find a way to get rid of it." Closing his eyes, he preformed a much more complex series of signs, and a bright gold point of light appeared at the tip of each finger. Ino had never seen such a technique, and she watched in fascinated suspense, eager to see what he was going to do.

But when Kabuto opened his eyes and looked down at her expectant face, he shook his head. "You do not want to watch." He said solemnly. "This is not a pleasant thing to see."

Ino scowled darkly. Men were always assuming that all females were squeamish little girls who fainted at the first sight of blood. Although Ino still felt very lightheaded, she was not some precious princess, and she was going to see how he did this.

Seeing from her expression that there would be no argument, Kabuto shrugged. "Fine." He said regretfully. "But remember, I warned you."

Snorting, Ino tried to relax as best she could as he place his fingers firmly along her brow. Checking to make sure she was ready, he pressed down hard on the digets, and _they sunk straight through her skull._

She tensed and froze as she felt his palms come to rest against her hairline, long fingers fully submerged in her head. It didn't hurt, not in the sense that she felt pain. But it certainly wasn't pleasant. The entire front half of her head, from her eyes to the crown had gone completely numb. Only at the points where his fingers entered her skin could she feel anything. It was sort of a pulling and wiggling, and it gave her the impression that he was fiddling with her brain.

Now she regretted not heeding his advice, and now she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. But it was too late, as she'd already seen what he was doing. A clausterphobic, trapped feeling started to well up inside her, and to keep herself from panicking, Ino recited the names of all the flowers she knew in alphabetical order. _Abelia, Abeliophyllum, Abelmoschus, Abroma, Abutilon, Acaena…_

The sun was low on the horizon, and Ino had reached Rhodanthemum on her mental list by the time Kabuto's hands finally left her face, taking the numbness away with them. Leaning back on his heels, he rubbed at his wrists, wincing "There, I think I've done all that I can for now, hopefully I've done enough." Ino sat up slowly, feeing a slight head-rush from lying down for so long, but miraculously, her headache was gone.

"You should be able to sleep safely now, so get some rest." Kabuto told her wearily. Ino looked closely at his face, and saw that he looked just as tired as she felt. But he did not settle into his sleeping bag like she did, instead, the silver-haired man stood and began to walk off into the forest. "Where are you going?" Ino called after him.

"Same as usually." He responded as he moved away. "Just need to take care of some things, don't wait up for me."

Of course, it was the same thing he said almost every night when he went on his mysterious excursions into the wilderness. It was a regular occurrence that Ino had gotten used to during the weeks spent traveling with him, but she had yet to find out what the 'things' that needed taking care of were. Honestly, she didn't want to know, but she would need to find out at some points, as it seemed like Kabuto didn't even have a destination.

All this time, she'd been expecting him to lead her to some villainous lair full of valuable information that she could feed back to Konoha, but lately Ino had begun to suspect that they were just wandering around the land to allow Kabuto to 'take care of things'.

In that case, she'd need to follow him in order to make this mission a success. But tonight wasn't the right night, she was far too tired. She'd sleep and recuperate now, and focus on recovering. When the time was right, she'd know, and she'd finally figure out what it was Kabuto did in the forest, so late into the night.

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Sorry for the long absence, but here we are again! I'm trying to heat up the relationship between them, but I absolutely hate stories that take romance to fast, especially in a case like this when they start out with absolutely zero connection. I actually have the last chapter of this story partly completed, it's the events leading up to it that I'm having trouble with.

Anyway, better late than never!


	6. Chapter 5

Ino didn't know when exactly this whole fiasco stopped being about Sasuke. It was probably quite early on, perhaps even before she'd first attempted to probe Kabuto's mind. As a matter of fact, she hadn't even _thought _about the guy in weeks! She'd originally set out for the sole purpose of finding him, and in the end she'd gotten tangled up in a completely unrelated adventure.

Or so she'd thought until she saw him standing in the clearing not twenty feet away.

She was already being painstakingly careful not to alert them to her presence, but now she stopped _breathing _lest they notice her crouched in the bushes. So far, it seemed she'd succeeded. The four dimly lit figures remained absorbed in their conversation. Or rather, three of them did. Sasuke wasn't participating much, as far as she could tell. He stood a little apart, arms limply at his sides and glowered at the ground.Or at least, she assumed he'd be looking at the ground, if there weren't white bandages obscuring his eyes.

He looked…so different and yet…so very much the same. The inky black hair was longer and shaggier, it fell in front of his bandaged face. He'd grown a good foot in the two and a half years since she'd last seen him, and broadened out, although it appeared that he'd recently lost a great deal of weight in a short amount of time, and he was paler than ever. The loose gray cloak he wore was stained and shabby looking. In summary, he looked much less impressive than her mind had been painting him as in his absence. He looked sad and defeated, and so very small next to his companions.

In particular the masked one, standing closest to him. He was not a massive man, but the way he held himself and something about the aura he projected made all the others shrink into the background, relatively insignificant. Not one inch of his skin or hair was visible, the blank holes of his mask revealed nothing.

He was also the only one of the group Ino didn't recognize. The third man, or at least he looked like a man, she new to be one of the few surviving members of the Akatsuki. The one that she'd always thought looked like a plant, the plant that eats flies. He was talking more animatedly than the others, gesturing widely with one hand, his voice raising and falling and changing tone.

Those three were standing in a loose circle, Ino noticed from her position, which was not unusual for a cliché moonlit rendezvous, but rather than looking like a huddle in which they were just talking, they seemed to be strategically placed in a ring around the fourth person. Kabuto didn't seem worried though, from his place in the middle of the group he was calmly listening to what the plant-man was saying.

It had been five nights since Ino had collapsed in Kabuto's arms due to the mysterious mass on her brain. Since then, she'd completely recovered her strength, and so far there were no signs of any relapse. But her good health had come at a price; she now owed a life-debt to the man she was supposed to hand over to his death. She'd been struggling with the guilt for the past few days, but had pushed it into the back of her mind for tonight she needed to concentrate.

She'd pretended to turn in early, claiming to still feel tired in order to make Kabuto let his guard down. No reason to suspect his ill companion of trickery now was there? When he got up and left their camp shortly after sun-down, she'd simply followed silently behind him, and he'd lead her right to the location of his 'things' that needed taking care of.

She'd never expected to see Sasuke there as well. It seemed that all of Konoha's most-wanted were in cahoots. This was very interesting news indeed. Well, that was about all that was interesting, they seemed to be just standing there and talking. She couldn't even hear what they were talking about from here, she needed to get closer. Taking a deep -but silent- breath she started to circle the clearing in order to find a better vantage point. She had her eyes glued to the four figures in front of her the entire time.

The arms that wrapped around her then were a complete shock. Although the hand clamping down on her mouth was useless for she had suppressed her instinct to scream anyway. No use alerting the men in the clearing, they wouldn't help someone who'd been spying on them.

She would have done the obvious and bit down on the fingers, but by them the person's other arm had wrapped around her body, pinning her arms and effectively disabling her. The faint smell of rotting vegetables tickled her nose as the figure whispered in her ear "well well well, a little peeping girl, caught in the act. This is quite the surprise."

Ino heart plummeted as she was half-shoved, half-dragged forward out of the cover of the brush. This was the worst-case scenario undoubtedly. There was no chance of her getting out of this alive. Light-headed with fear, she watched as the figures turned to look at her. Her eyes flicked to Kabuto's to meet his stunned expression. She quickly looked elsewhere. Why did she have to feel this guilt?

The plant-like Akatsuki member leered crookedly at her. "Looky what I found!" He shouted exuberantly. "A little pest hiding in the bushes!" From behind her, her captor grunted in annoyence. "What should I do with her?" The plant-man strode forward to meet them. When he drew even, her walked behind them and disappeared from Ino's sight.

A chuckle came from the masked-man "Well done Zetsu, it wouldn't due for some little girl to overhear" He tilted his head to address her, "Sorry deary, this meeting is for adults only. You'll understand if we…remove you."

Squeezing her eyes closed, Ino despaired. There was no way she could fight, every one of them was much more powerful than her, and all of them together, they'd level her in an instant. Oh she should have just stayed with her team, finished their assigned mission and gone home. Poor Shikamaru and Chouji, they'd never find her body, never know what became of their friend. How she missed those boys. To just see them again, to apologize for running off. All for one stupid boy who probably hadn't thought of her once. She felt the cold steel press of a blade against her face.

But then a voice cut through the silence. "Wait! She's with me!"

Opening her eyes. Staring flabbergasted at the man hurrying forward. "Let her go Zetsu, and put the damned cleaver away." Kabuto reached out and laid his hand against the arm keeping her trapped.

Between the two men, Ino looked up at Kabuto in dismay. What was he doing? She'd disobeyed him, broken the thin trust that had formed between them. Surely he should just let them kill her. But his face was fixed in a determined glare, looking over her shoulder at the other man.

Slowly, the arms unwrapped and Ino was shoved forward into Kabuto's chest. "With you?" She sivered at the sound of Sasuke's bitter voice, rough from disuse. "what are you doing with the likes of her?"

Kabuto steadied her before turning to the younger man. "Just what I said, this is my companion." Sasuke scoffed in reply. "Companion" he sneered. "Right."

Ino couldn't take it anymore. As unexpected as this encounter was, she had to at least try. "Sasuke!" She cried, her voice cracking lamely. "Listen to me, I don't know what you're doing with these people, but it's not to late! Come back home! Please, everyone misses you…so _much_! Think of your team, Sakura and Naruto-"

"HA!" the young man barked sourly. "Those names, your words, they mean nothing to me. Don't waste my time, or I _will_ kill you."

She balked at the raw malice in his voice, but charged on anyway. "They need you back Sasuke, you have no idea how much pain they've been through trying to reach you. They still love you!"

"Kabuto" He said, ignoring Ino. "If you plan on keeping your companion's life, I suggest you remove her from my presence NOW."

Ino looked around wildly, but Kabuto nodded once and firmly nudged her in the direction they'd come. "Remember your promise." The Akatsuki member -Zetsu- said sternly. "We need those four by the end of the week. Don't let us down." Then they melted into the darkness.

It was the last straw. Stumbling through the pitch-black tress through dapples of silvery light, Ino allowed herself to be dragged over knobby roots and grasping undergrowth. Just barely half an hour ago she'd been pumped up, ready to unearth the secrets of Kabuto's devious nighttime going-ons. Now however, she just wanted to curl up and sleep. But there was something she needed to get over with before she'd allow herself to give into the dark spots that were spreading across her vision. She just needed to get the words out. 

"Why" she moaned as a branch whipped across her face. "Why why why and again why?"

Kabuto halted and despite the long years of vigorous training, it took all of Ino's reflexes not to run into him. They stood for a moment in silence, until Ino, frowning and blinking blearily at his still figure mumbled unintelligibly "Uhhhhhmmmm...what are you-"

"What do you mean '_why'_?" He snapped peevishly. "Why did I speak up? Why didn't I let them kill you? Is _that _what you're asking?" 

"_Yes_" She hissed, suddenly feeling irrationally angry. "That and more, so much more!" She turned away from him and plunked herself down on a damp old stump. She hung her head in her hands and rubbed at her eyes in exasperation. "Why didn't _you _kill me? God knows you've had plenty of chances. Why didn't you finish me off that day when you first found me? Or after I tried to escape for the first, second, third time? Why do you keep me around? Is this a game to you, playing with me until you loose interest? I don't GET IT!" She wailed the last words, finally breaking.

She didn't look at him, but she felt his dark glare on her back. She couldn't find it in herself to care. She was done. This whole mess was just so _frustrating_. Kabuto's inexplicable actions and unpredictable mood swings. One minute he'd seem almost kind, and the next she'd see the warped face of the monster everyone said that he was. She was tired of trying to guess what person he'd be today, and trying to figure out how to best behave as a result. 

"Playing with you? You think I'm playing?" He groused loudly. "You want to know why you're still alive? Look at me!" He gripped her shoulder and yanked, spinning her until she faced him. 

She gaped at his face. His slitted golden eyes were wide open in almost maniacal desperation, his scaly skin pulled tight over his twisted features. A gasp escaped Ino's chest before she could stifle it. His teeth cracked audibly as he gnashed his fangs together, the sharp points gleaming in the moonlight. 

His hand was at her throat, fingers dragging her skin, pulling it up along the ridges of her larynx and making it difficult to breathe. The ends of his fingers were gripping her jaw, impeding any attempt to move away. It made her feel claustrophobic though, and his expression was frightening, and she couldn't help grabbing his wrists and trying to twist away.

But his grip was iron and he dug his fingers painfully into her chin. He stared into her eyes, searching wildly, his pupils dilated and twitching. But the anger seemed to drain away, leaving an exhausted frustration.

His grip loosened, but she was no longer trying to slip away. And he didn't remove his hand. He breathed out heavily and pushed his glasses up from where they'd slid nearly to the end of his nose. "Sasuke doesn't get it." He murmured, eyes still glued to her face. " He doesn't know how lucky he is."

Ino's heart leapt into her throat. "W-what?" She gasped. The only thing keeping her from keeling over was the hand on her face. That not only failed to answer her question, which she'd thought was relatively straightforward, but it also brought forth a flood of new confusion.

But she didn't need to prompt him, and the explanation came quickly. "When I left Konoha, not a single person ever asked me to come back."

She was still in his slack grasp. Not frozen or unable to speak, but unwilling. She wanted to hear what he had to say.

"He treats you like shit." Kabuto continued "And yet you keep fighting for him. Others too, I've seen you all do it. Even the ones who claim to have given up on him still look at him with hope in their eyes. He is so loved despite everything. I lived in the village for nearly my whole life and yet no one hopes for my return."

He leaned back on his heels and gazed at her earnestly. "I guess…I wanted to understand. What drives you on, what keeps that flame of hope alive? And I'm a man of observation, so when you walked across my path, I just couldn't help it. But now I know that I never will understand, and I suppose that is why I never earned that for myself."

He was telling the truth, this was no trick. The tone of voice, like a lost little child, and the tragic vision of his sad eyes left no doubt in her mind. He _was_ childlike, just grasping at the air as he struggled through life alone. She felt hot tears well in her eyes.

"Would you?" She asked.

"Would I what?"

"Would you come back…if I asked you to? Would you leave whatever you are doing with those people and come home with me?"

He hadn't expected it, and he actually chuckled in a forced manner. "You know that's impossible." His hand slid farther down to rest on her neck. "I can never go back to that place, I've gone in too deep."

"You don't know for sure." The idea was infectious, searing through her whole being. It was ridiculous, yes, but her imagination was racing ahead of rational thoughts, and she grabbed his arm tightly. "If you give them information, if you stop the others, maybe they'll forgive you! I'll vouch for you to Tsunade-sama, she'll listen! And I might be able to convince the others, they always did like you…before…"

"_Before._" He whispered. "Before, Ino. I have done so many things that you don't even know about. I'm not even the same man they knew. It would never work. There's no future for me there, there never was."

The tears escaped and trickled down her cheeks. The gold of his eyes followed their slow path. His features crumpled again, and he let out a strangled moan. _**"No" **_He croaked, "You can't cry for me, it's not right." But they fell faster now, dripping off her chin to fall in dark spots onto the sleeve of his cloak. _**"Don't"**_ and he pulled her face forward, his breath ragged against her damp skin.

She shivered as his lips just brushed her cheek, and trailed up along the plain of her face to the sensitive skin underneath her eye. His slender nose trailed along her own, and she felt the roughness of the scales catch on her moist lashes. The sensation was overwhelming and seconds seemed to hang forever before he pulled away.

He stood first, eyes hidden behind the tangle of star-coloured hair. He turned and walked slowly away, on the same route back to their camp, as if nothing had happened. Ino wasn't so steady as she stumbled after him. She spent the remainder of the short journey in a daze, heart just barley returning to it's normal rhythm. But by the time they arrived, she had more or less recovered her calm, and was prepared when he spoke.

"Thanks anyway." He said, voice even and amicable. "Thanks for trying."


	7. Chapter 6

_They were walking together, sun streaming down unfiltered to bathe them in a golden glow. As always, she was several paces behind, allowing him to lead them into the blinding sun that shone low on the horizon. _

_She cringed and shifted over so that his shadow fell over her, blocking the painful glare. Unfortunately in doing so also hid the dusty path in front of them from her veiw. It was frustrating, not being able to see where they were going, but it was either that or the unbearable glow. Ino debated whether to brave the burning sunlight or stay in the blissfully cool shade._

_She looked up at the straight plain of his back, and suddenly felt reassured. Although she was blind he'd guide her well, he always did._

_The moment she made the decision to trust him, the long dry grass on either side of the trail morphed into the soft lawns of a well-tended neighbourhood. Ino's eyes widened and she stared at the passing scenery. High wooden fences lined the brown road, decorated occasionally with illegible graffiti, an occasional poster, or a patch of untended weeds. _

_She wanted to stop to see what was written, but Kabuto didn't appear willing to let her. When she paused beside a colourful ad, he continued forward, taking the security of his shadow with him. She hurried to keep up, looking back over her shoulder in irritation._

_Then the fencing abruptly ended. The wood paneling turned sharply and continued on in both directions as far as the eye could see. Forming a narrow alley with the fence were featureless gray buildings, boarded up and empty. Building after building passed by at a leisurely pace, each appearing the same as its neighbours. But something seemed off to her, and then she realized that nothing was casting shadows. _

_Even the alleyways were entirely lit by the sun, despite how low in the sky it was. Not even Ino was creating shade. She frowned in confusion. It appeared that Kabuto was the only thing that this unnaturally bright light couldn't pass through. _

_So distracted was Ino by this baffling phenomena, that she nearly missed the shop. The brightly coloured store looked so out of place amide the monotone buildings around it. Her eyes filled with tears as she took in the slightly cracked yellow paint and terra cotta shingles. Somebody had pulled the displays out and loaded them with lush flowers that perfumed the air with their exotic scent. The stained wooden doors were thrown wide-open, inviting passer-byes into the bright shop's interior. _

_The Yamanaka family-run flower shop that had stood in the Konohagakure market until it had been destroyed along with the rest of the village during Pein's attack, more than half a year ago. _

_Ino could see the counter where her mother wrapped and tied the flowers into gorgeous bouquets was unattended but the door to the back room was partially ajar, and she imagined that she caught a glimpse of somebody moving around inside. _

_Her heart leaped in her chest and tears filled her eyes. Could be her father or her mother? The last time she'd seen mom had been in the refugee camp set up for the survivors the day her team was scent out to fight. Now, months later, the thought of feeling her arms around her again was enough to send tears spilling down her cheeks._

_Or even if it wasn't one of her parents, it had to be one of the employees. Perhaps aunty Bara or one or her many cousins. After so long, home was right there. _

_But Kabuto just kept moving away, his even strides not faltering once. Ino called out to him, telling him to stop, just to wait a moment while she took a look inside. He could come too, and meet her family. Suddenly the thought of Kabuto in her family's shop, chatting with her parents, although outrageous, appealed to her greatly. They'd understand, she was sure, once she explained to them that he wasn't all bad. _

_But Kabuto ignored her and kept on his slow path. Ino shouted louder, alarm rising in her chest as his long shadow started to slide away. She scuttled forward a few inches, yelling curses at him to just wait. Stretching her hand out, she tried to catch hold of his cloak, only to have the fabric slip through her grasping fingers. _

_This was horrible, Kabuto was completely unresponsive, and as she shuffled at the edge of his retreating shadow, home was getting farther and farther away. Her head spun and it felt like she was about to pass out from the stress, until she made up her mind, tearing her eyes from the man in front of her she leapt away and dashed toward the glowing shop front. _

_As soon as she stepped into the light of the sun, the full heat smashed into her full force, sending her sprawling into the dust. Her skin burned with dry energy, as she heaved herself toward the mahogany doorframe. Every movement felt ten times as strenuous as it should have, it felt like she hadn't slept in weeks. Her mouth had not moisture left, as she lifted her hand to her face, she saw that her skin had broken into blisters, crimson blood leaking through the angry skin and dripping down to be sucked into the dry earth without leaving so much as a stain. _

_Shaking, she collapsed onto her face, her mouth filling with ash. She managed to open on eye and squint back along the heat-radiating road. _

_She hadn't gotten far and Kabuto was still tantalizingly close. He'd finally stopped, and was in the motions of turning to face her. She pried her lips apart, ripping skin off in the process. Coppery blood filled her mouth as she tried to form the words to call him back, that it had been a mistake to leave his protection, and if he'd only just help her..._

_But he just looked down at her, his calm face thrown into tantalizing shadow. He watched her agony silently. She was loosing consciousness, turning to dust._

Ino pulled out of the dream groggily at the feel of water hitting her face. She stared up at the gray sky until a drop of rain hit her directly in the eye, making her hiss and pull the sleeping bag over her head with an exhausted moan.

But the sound of the rain steadily got heavier forcing her to reluctantly roll out and start shoving her things into the pack Kabuto had bought for her in the last town.

Speaking of Kabuto, he was still asleep and bundled up on his side. He'd thrown his heavy cloak on top of his sleeping bag, as the days were getting colder again, even in the south. His face was scrunched up against the splattering drops, and his stuff was going to get soaked if he didn't pack up soon.

Feeling shy due to the events of the night before, Ino didn't go shake him awake like she would've in the past. Instead she chucked one of her sandals at him and with her honed aim hit him square in the face.

He jerked up with a satisfying expression of alarm, and the awkwardness was forgotten as she giggled at his appearance. His silver hair was mussed up and bunched on one side. His face was flushed from sleep and the black T-shirt he slept in wrinkled and hung loosely exposing one of his scaled shoulders. His amber eyes were stretched wide in surprise, and flicked around before settling on her grinning face. His eyes softened and he chuckled quietly along with her.

They set out after a rushed breakfast of travel gruel and some edible green's that she'd collected a few days ago. The sky opened up and the light shower turned into a full-on downpour. Ino trudged on numbly, pathetically attempting to shelter under her pack. It was miserable going, and she was soon splattered in mud and wet through to her underwear.

Because of her restless sleep, full of strangely relevant dreams, she was running on fumes. After only twenty or so minutes, Ino couldn't see how she'd make it until lunch, let alone sundown. Kabuto seemed to realize this, and instead of motoring forward to make good time, he scanned the dim foliage until he spotted a rocky overhang at the bottom of a craggy slope. Taking her arm, he steered her into the shelter where she leaned gratefully against the cool wall.

Outside, the rain was pounding down from the dark-purple thunderheads that swirled above. Wind wailed through the trees, blowing the droplets sideways, transformed into painful projectiles. Ino peeled the wet strands of water-darkened blonde hair off her face and let her ponytail loose, proceeding to wring it out. She hesitated before stripping down to her underwear. Hey, he was a big boy and a medic, and it wasn't like her practical combat-undies showed that much anyway, they were made for comfort, not sex appeal.

On the opposite wall, Kabuto had his bag open and was laying his things out to dry. He too had she some clothes and though he'd left his pants on, his shirt was laying on a rock and Ino wouldn't be a true to herself if she didn't appreciate his compactly muscular body. Ino followed his lead and dumped her few possessions out unceremoniously.

The storm raged for the whole day, and the minutes dragged on with nothing to do. For a while Ino managed to amuse herself by taking peeks at all the items Kabuto had strewn about. She never would have guess that the guy would have so much crap stuffed into that bag of his. Most of it looked like innocent traveling gear; maps of various parts of the world, blankets, extra clothes, not outwardly evil or suspicious at all.

But there were other things, some were just strange, some she didn't even recognize. Medical equipment of course, bandages and disinfecting spray, but also a diverse collection of needles that each seemed ominous in their own right. Other tubes of what she guessed were samples of something or other poked out of a small sack.

However, what interested Ino the most where the scrolls. There were tons of them, rolled open so that they'd dry without smudging the ink. Each one was crammed with tiny characters, so that not a square inch of the paper was left blank. Medical ninjutsu was always more complicated than battle jutstu. Ino itched with curiosity, her fingers twitched with the desire to hold the scrolls.

"If you want to take a look, go right ahead." Huh, apparently she wasn't being as subtle in her peepery as she'd previously thought.

"Pfft, I have no idea what you are you talking about, is that some kinda pick up line ya perv?" Oh yes, the oblivious ditz persona always worked the best for her, and why change what works? Though the events of the previous night did load her words with heavier meaning…

Kabuto rolled his eyes, not fooled for a minute. "Oh, sorry, I thought you'd want to read my medical scrolls, but it appears I was mistaken. I guess I'll just put then away then…"

"Oh really?" She said brightly, scooting over to his side. "Don't mind if I do! You should have just said so." She eagerly reached out and snatched up the closest one.

Ino devoured that scroll, and two more after it. But as interesting as that was, by the fourth she was getting tired of it. Theory had never been her strong point, that she left up to Sakura. That's why people like her and Kabuto would always be the better healers. They had more patience for the textbook part of the training, while Ino preferred to wing it and learn by experience (much to the dismay of her patients).

Soon she became distracted and settled on watching Kabuto shift through the many pockets of his bag, sorting useful things and throwing away the stuff he didn't think they'd need. "I really should clean this out more often." He muttered, making a face as he pulled what looked like a dried out apple from the deep recesses of the thing.

Ino fidgeted impatiently and slouched down against the wall. She couldn't exactly tell what time it was, as the storm made the sky nearly as dark as night. Finally, she snapped and stuck out her foot in order to shake Kabuto's bare shoulder. He turned his head to regard her quizzically.

"I'm bored, teach me one of your techniques." She said, her surprisingly polite tone of voice conflicting with her bossy choice of words.

He turned his body so that he was fully facing her. "Which one? Are the scrolls not enough?" He put the now empty bag aside.

"I don't mean one from these scrolls, I can tell that you took these from the hospital in Konoha, I recognize Hikki-san's printing." She said, naming the nurse in charge of the hospital's records. "I want to learn one of your own, one that you created."

He raised is eyebrows critically and lean his elbows on his knees. "That's a very serious request Ino." He said evenly, staring her straight in the eyes. "Why would I divulge my secrets to you, an enemy shinobi?"

There was the difficult part, but he didn't sound mad so she decided to push her luck. "Come on, I'm bored to death, and I bet you are too. Who knows how long this weather will last? We could be stuck here for days with nothing to do. Just teach me one, how about the one that you used to heal my head? I've never seen anything like it before, and it looked really useful."

It looked as if he was about to shoot the idea down once again, but he paused and his expression softened. He tapped his chin thoughtfully and continued to stare at her. His unblinking gaze made her all the more aware of their shared state of undress and she fought to keep from flushing. She held eye contact and set her jaw determinably. '_Don't look at his chest, don't look at his wonderfully sculpted chest. Damn men, so gosh darned good looking. Why do the bad-boys always look the best?'_

"Fine." He said.

It took her hours to make any visible progress, and even then, the tiny points of light at the tip of each of her fingers were so miniscule that they were more light smudges of colour. The finished project, however, when Kabuto demonstrated again and again patiently at her request, glowed brightly and illuminated the entire cave.

He made it look and sound so easy. If the user managed to concentrate their chakra evenly throughout all ten fingers (or five if they only wanted to use one hand) and correctly push the energy through the tips and outward, forming a mostly invisible layer of pure chakra around each digit, then they would be able to pass through living tissue, parting it like water. The jutsu was constantly healing and reopening the break in the body, over and over while the healer worked. To work, the medic had to have a great deal of control, focus and raw chakra.

Ino had plenty of the latter; it was the first to requirements that she was failing in.

She groaned in despair and released her chakra from her hand and let it flow back to it's natural course. Standing without a word, she walked over the where her now dry possessions lay. She gathered them up and methodically put them away. She felt emotionally and physically drained from the long day, and as the sky had turned black a few hours ago, she decided that it was time to turn in.

Kabuto spoke from behind her. "Don't feel discouraged." She heard the rustle of fabric as he slipped his loose black t-shirt over his head (which was slightly disappointing). "It's a very advanced level technique, you can't expect to get it right away. It's taken me years to perfect it myself."

She contemplated putting her clothes back on too, but then just snuggled into her sleeping bag as is. Peeking out so that only her eyes were uncovered, she looked over at her companion. It appeared that he would not be going to rendezvous with the terrible trio tonight. Hmm, who knew that villainous meetings were weather-permitted only.

"Thanks anyway." She mumbled into her blanket. "It passed the time at least." She pulled the cover all the way over her head, and drifted back into the muddled world of dreams that seemed to make more sense than the waking world these days. _Home was where her loved ones were. _ Where things were more clearly black and white. _His shadow slipping away _Where her choices weren't so blurred. _It had come to a point where she'd dye now, if she weren't with him. _

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Twenty reviews! Thanks everybody! I'm glad that this pairing is so well received, although I'm disappointed that this is still the only fic about them ;)

This was kind of a fillerish chapter, and I didn't originally plan for that. But character development and stuff, you know. LMK what you think!


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